I came across an article yesterday afternoon from Matthew Miller, a ZDNet Contributor and T-Mobile customer whom I also had the pleasure of meeting this week at CES. Miller’s post highlights five simple recommendations for T-Mobile in 2012 to help solidify their user base and re-establish themselves as a player in the US wireless market. T-Mobile highlighted at their 2012 CES event that they continue to expand their HSPA+ coverage, rollout new devices and heavily focus their message on value, value and value. Like Miller, we believe those are all good approaches, but there is more T-Mobile can do to stay competitive and become an underdog nipping at the heels of Sprint.

T-Mobile’s Chief Executive painted a picture for T-Mobile to work furiously to keep customers and while some of their ideas have been revealed, there is still a lot of work to be done. So what can T-Mobile do? Here’s what Miller thinks they can do and we have to say, we agree on all 5 points.

Shared Family Data: This one is a little tougher to sell, especially since Humm just went on the record with the New York Times saying Shared Family Data wouldn’t be coming to T-Mobile. That being said, a rightly priced shared data plan could end up boosting T-Mobile’s place as a value carrier, especially with the industry leaders AT&T and Verizon planning on introducing their own shared family data plans later this year.

Notification To Primary Account Holder Before ANY Account Actions Are Taken: Yup, we’re looking at you billing date changes and pay-per-use data charges introduced in 2011. The good news is T-Mobile acknowledges these mistakes and plans to make it a major part of reducing churn in 2012. Miller recommends T-Mobile start a policy where NO actions or changes to the account are made without the permission of the primary account holder.

Remove Upgrade Free: Yeah we get it, this fee is an industry staple. T-Mobile should do away with them, making upgrading a seamless and inexpensive experience. The only charge to the customer should be that of the equipment they are purchasing. If they don’t want to do away with them altogether, do away with the fee for long-time customers to help cut churn and encourage upgrades.

Loyal Customer Upgrade Bonuses: T-Mobile, along with almost every carrier in the US lets customers receive a full subsidy on a new phone once every two years. Sometimes those discounts begin at 20-22 months. Unfortunately the timeframe for the introduction of new phones is super fast today and well below the 24 month timeframe that sounded good at the time the standard upgrade cycle was introduced years ago. How about 12 month upgrades? How about a program similar to Verizon’s former New Every Two program which offered a $100 discount on upgrades for two-year contracts?

Work With Apple To Get The iPhone On Their Network: Yeah I know, you’re tired of hearing about the iPhone…we’ve been talking about it a lot this week. Except, if T-Mobile potentially sold 1 million iPhone’s to their 33 million customers, that’s a big deal. An even bigger deal would be the customers who wouldn’t leave because the iPhone is on the network. We make a big deal out of having the iPhone, because T-Mobile’s CEO says the iPhone is the single biggest influencer of T-Mobile’s churn.

There are other additions we could make to this list, and we recognize that some of you will agree to disagree about these 5 recommendations. The point is, we’re trying to show T-Mobile what the end-user thinks, and where frustrations truly exist. What do you think? What would you add to this list?

About David Beren

David is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TmoNews.com. He considers himself a Jedi Knight, capable of leaping tall buildings in a single bound and a connoisseur of fine cell phones. He has been involved in the wireless industry since 2003 and has been known to swap out phones far too many times in any given year. Should you wish to contact him, you can do so: david@tmonews.com.

Dammit the only reason i wanted att /tmo merger to go tru was cuz i wanted tmo to come to montana . I Have at&t which has coverage everywere i gone in montana and i always had service but its expensive!!! over here only verizon, sprint and at&t have service . No t-mobile here at all no t-mobile stores at all. i have family from cali wit t-mobile when they visit me there t-mobile phones roam on at&t. only reason i wanted t-mobile was cuz.there plans are cheap. o well this sukz i have to stay with at&t cuz they at least have 3G coverage i go and they dont roam on other carriers around here everywere i go my atrix 2 says At&t in the screen.

Tmo employee

at&t is ripping you off! All at&t phones are programmed to say at&t even when they are roaming on another carrier. i bet your phones roams a lot on another carrier in montana and u dont even know it and they charging u alot. because from what i heard at&ts coverage is spotty in montana.i know t-mobile doesnt have coverage in montana but at least there phones are honest and display the name of the other carrier when they are out of t-mobiles coverage and roaming on another carrier unlike at&t phones which still say at&t even when they are roaming.

Wanda

for a t-mobile employee you know nothing . i can tell u NEVER had at&t there phones ARE not programmed to say at&t when they are roaming. canada is close to me since i live in montana just last week i crossed over to canada activated international roaming on my atrix . Bam moment i crossed into canada by car my atrix was displaying “ROGERS CA”in the screen not at&t everything worked data,calls etc just like if i were in montana only difference they charged me roaming charges. Same thing when i went to acapulco mexico once i arrive in the airport in mexico i turned on my atrix it was displaying “TELCEL GSM” not at&t everything also worked data, calls etc and same thing they charged me roaming . so yea i DONT know were u got that at&t phones are programmed to say at&t when there roaming cuz.there not.. just letting u know..

TmoUSPloyee

I can tell you the iPhone does, well because I have one.. (long story), It shows ATT throughout New Mexico when there were only local telcos along the highways down there. (i had to switch the setting to roaming to get any signal, when I turned it off it had none) so yeah they do that, not sure if its some agreement they make with the locals.

BigMixxx

In my first drive to vegas, with my iPhone in 2009, I saw the same thing…HOWEVER I could not surf. Freaked me out in Santa Rosa…

Not sure if that’s changed…

Kirk

No way you are a Tmo employee, unless you are one of the useless ones who make up stuff. Roaming on At&t in the US doesn’t charge the customer. Then again if you were a real T-mobile employee you would know already know that none of the US carriers charge for roaming within the states.

Thanks for proving your screename is fake.

TmoUSPloyee

Actually they do charge, well Cricket I know does, if you go over their small limit you need to pay to roam additional minutes outside of their network. I’m a different Employee btw..

Tmoguy1

It is actually funny reading some of these comments. I mean Really, to sum alot of them up, Tmobile needs to spend a fortune on LTE and Iphone to compete (i agree with those BTW), But we can’t stop there, many people saying that Tmobile needs to spend fortunes on those also say stop charging upgrade fees, reduce fees, and etc. How does a company Reduce fees (i.e. take a loss from there current profits) and spend out Billions on both the Iphone and LTE.

I get it, I mean Peopel will never be satidfied. You can plese some of the people some of the time but no one can please all the people all the time.

But really, You can’t say Tmo should spend billions to secure something that (Iphone or LTE) wont really be used for some time (i mean tmo isnt going to have iphones tomorrow or LTE), and at the same time say cut costs to customers and have better customer care.

It just isn’t realistic to ask a company to invest in so many different directions all at once.

For Tmobile to get LTE and Iphone, they would most likely have to cut costs somewhere, and if fees go down, then it looks like customer service (whether in store or over phone) would take the cut.

I’m justy saying that list of five things and the comments, are not realistic, just wishing.
Here’s a prediction:
Tmobile will launch LTE during this year. They will do something for loyal customers to stop them from leaving, and they will change their price plans to something more simple than the current value plan, although it will still most likely have intallments.

And anything else will wait for 2013.

Sean

It’s the same idea as Republicans wanting lower taxes when there is a huge debt to be paid.

Kind of ironic in a way.

CRT24

Right because wasteful spending has nothing to do with it

Jcj1

don’t expect LTE anytime this year but I do agree about rewarding long term customers.

Mobileboy

Rollover on Data. I’m tired of leaving so much data on the table…a result of having to constantly monitor my data with 3G Watchdog. It would also be a great marketing tool for T-Mobile.

Jason

Your data is unlimited. What would you “roll over”?

Guest

I think they have a plan or two which have 200mb of data and you get charged if you go over. If you don’t use all 200mb in one month, they could roll the unused data over.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TJUOOGIMYVM5Q2VWWKZ55ERHIE CWC

100 Free text messages on every line.

http://twitter.com/jeux999 Daner Doodle

#6. Sell the Huawei Ascend P1

Judith

Last month T-Mobile put the” Amaze” on sale for $129.99, however this price was only in effect between the hours of midnight and 3AM. This sale was not publicized in advance, and it’s one in which I would like to have participated. This could have been handled better. I’ve been with TMO for more than ten years, but longevity is not rewarded when it comes to new phones – the newcomers rake in all of the best bargains – This could also be a major reason for churn.

Farhan

I think the best thing would be to bring back the 12 month contracts for long time customers after which they qualify for fully discounted phones for another year. They could call it the T-Mobile Loyalty Plan.

http://www.unscripted360.com Deacon

and they should also work on their network!!! here in Dallas i’d hardly say it’s 4G.

James

what part of dallas you in… cause im in rowlett im get anywhere from 5mb to 20mb depending on what time obviously i get the 14 and up in the morning but during the day i get 5

Ricky

Excellent article. I always thought T-Mobile needs to reward the customers that:
1. Have been loyal to them for a long time
2. Customers that spend certain amount of money a month with them.

Just like the airlines for example. The more you fly and spend the more rewards you get. I believe US Cellular has something like that. Sprint I believe has something similar.
These rewards can be…. the ability to upgrade phones more often, discounted accesories, credit to their T-Mobile accounts etc… Or a combination of them

In this wireless market, so competitive any incentive can make a huge difference when it comes to attacking churn. Besides it makes the customer feel appreciated.

http://profiles.google.com/surakmn Greg Prince

They need to do something about data costs – perhaps reintroduce the no overages plan at the 200MB level. I like TMo and my preference is to stay with them, But for what I’m spending now I can put my kids on smartphones as well from the competition.

Dominique

So the carrier with the lowest data costs for post paid plans needs to do something about data costs. That’s like telling Walmart to drop their prices further or I’ll go to Target.

Steve

I agree to you to some extend. But remember that Walmart is not really hurting about churn… T-Mobile is.
They NEED to do something. Hopefully the “go forward” plan that is coming out in February will focus on retaining customers and what a better way than to make the good and loyal customers feel appreciated.

James

where did you get that we are getting new plans in February

Farhan

You do realize that Walmart doesn’t have the lowest prices on everything they sell right?

Farhan

You do realize that Walmart doesn’t have the lowest prices on everything they sell right?

Anonymous

T-mobile does not have the lowest data costs, sprint does but their network is a mess. Hell even verizon has it better cost at 10gbs considering gb for gb though there are overages same for AT&T.

Anonymous

Give me a break, what national carrier comes close to T-Mobile’s prices? They have no overage 2GB for $10 dollars on value and higher tiers from there and you need it to be cheaper?

THATSCOOL

no1, most important recommendation is let the long time customers change their plan to VALUE PLAN without the $200 fee per line and $1000 rip off fee for 5 family lines.,
2nd is get the IPHONE 5, which will have bigger screen, i hate the current and previous iPHONEs becos they are so tiny and useless for internet use.

Anonymous

What you’re saying is nonsense. Value plans are discounted plans instead of discounted phones. Why should they discount your phones on your upgrade by $300 or so and ALSO let you switch to the value plan which saves you well over that.

If you’re too dim-witted to see how the value plans save you money with paying full price for a phone then don’t even bother switching and stick to your plan where you get phone discounts. But please keep your sense of entitlement to yourself. You get a plan discount or a phone discount. Pick one!

THATSCOOL

i got no discounts on phone and TMO wants to cheat me $1000 to for value plan.

Anonymous

So T-Mobile wants to charge you $1000 to migrate over to the value plan? That would mean 200 per line, which would mean you have five lines. So a Classic plan where you get unlimited talk text and web (2GB) for five people comes to: $290 plus tax. A VALUE plan for the same thing for five people comes to: $205 plus taxes. Classic Plan times 24 months = $6,960 Value Plan times 24 months=$4920. So guess what you’re saving $2,040 over the course of your two year contract! So T-Mobile charged you $1000 to migrate? Aww poor you, you only saved $1,040!

Ashton

You just replied above that you only paid a little over $200 for phones that cost $530. THAT’S CALLED A DISCOUNT!

Kirk

No I am sorry. You got the phone subsidized, why should they let you switch to the value plan? The value plan is for people who purchase the phoen at full retail. Not for people who want to trick the system, get a subsidized phone, then switch over to a value plan. Have your cake and eat it too?

Get a life.

You should be able to switch to a value plan without a fee after you have fully carried out the terms of your current contract, which I assume got you subsidized phones.

THATSCOOL

i dont see any discounts on phone, i paid the GS2 over $200 with 2 yr contract, there was a news of actual phone costs where it shows the GS2 actual cost by tmo is only $160, they made $40 profit and still will own me for 2 yrs.

there is a discount plan called VALUE but having to pay $1000 FOR 5 FAMILY LINE IS A TOTAL RIP OFF.
WHAT’S THE VALUE IF TMO wants $200 per line to get it?

Anonymous

Still, even if you didn’t get discounts on phones, you renewed your contract in exchange for SOMETHING. and even if your contract is renewed it has NOTHING to do with your upgrade eligibility. So take your upgrade and call it a day. You were okay with your plan when you signed up for it yet you display a greedy mentality when you want to take the discount on phones that you get the plan you’re currently on and then be allowed to switch without a fee to the plans where there are no discounts and is cheaper.

Also your not seriously talking about the production cost of a GS2 are you? Sure, it may be $160 per unit, who knows? But can you name one electronics product customers can purchase at manufacturing cost??? The retail price of the GS2 is around $530 buddy, You can even buy it straight from Samsung if you want! Companies factor development and r&d cost when sticking a retail price on their, sure they’re profiting but throwing the cost of parts number around (if it even is $160) is just stupid. It doesn’t matter. Make your OWN Galaxy S II if you feel so ripped off then.

So T-Mobile wants to charge you $1000 to migrate over to the value plan? That would mean 200 per line, which would mean you have five lines. So a Classic plan where you get unlimited talk text and web (2GB) for five people comes to: $290 plus tax. A VALUE plan for the same thing for five people comes to: $205 plus taxes. Classic Plan times 24 months = $6,960 Value Plan times 24 months=$4920. So guess what you’re saving $2,040 over the course of your two year contract! So T-Mobile charged you $1000 to migrate? Aww poor you, you only saved $1,040!

Elementary school math my friend… don’t go out complaining into the world unless you master it.

Ashton

There is no possible way that the SGS2 cost $160. The HTC Thunderbolt cost $270 in parts alone, not counting manufacturing, shipping, warehouse, and marketing. If you don’t have a real link then you’re just making things up. Just google HTC Thunderbolt parts cost and you’ll see what just the parts cost the manufacturers.

So, the Value customers that have to pay full price for the SGS2($530) are just stupid for signing up for the service in the first place but because you’re special you should get a full discount and move to plan that doesn’t give subsidies. Your not that special….nobody is.

THATSCOOL

google, i saw this on my yahoo news page couple of months ago.

i got rippedd off $40 for 2 yrs contract and TMO wants to rip me off $1000 for value plan for family lines.

Anonymous

So T-Mobile wants to charge you $1000 to migrate over to the value plan? That would mean 200 per line, which would mean you have five lines. So a Classic plan where you get unlimited talk text and web (2GB) for five people comes to: $290 plus tax. A VALUE plan for the same thing for five people comes to: $205 plus taxes. Classic Plan times 24 months = $6,960 Value Plan times 24 months=$4920. So guess what you’re saving $2,040 over the course of your two year contract! So T-Mobile charged you $1000 to migrate? Aww poor you, you only saved $1,040!

Elementary school math my friend… don’t go out complaining into the world unless you master it.

Ashton

You’re full of it. I did a Google and Yahooo search for it and nothing.

LUV

$200 per line for a phone plan itself is a FRAUD. i agree TMO shouldn’t charge this kind of outragous fee for VALUE PLAN, not at least for long time customers.

Rajesh

I want to change to VALUE PLAN and if TMO wants to charge me $600 fee for my 3 lines, i am out of TMO. pay for phone and pay fee for plan? that is nonsense!

Sue

As a satisfied customer since the G1 appeared on T-Mobile, I would like to see a better and more reasonable data roaming plan for traveling in other countries added. I would be happy to pay a certian amount for data usage up front before I go on a week or ten day trip to Europe or even Canada. It would take some of the bite out of getting that very large bill later. Usually I would only use WiFi outside of the States, but there were times when I could have used my phone to search the web, but did not do so because of the high cost.

Shadygrady

I love the 4th recommendation.

servantofjc

I have been a Tmobile Customer for almost as long as they have been out here on the west cost. I have been very tempted to jump ship and have not gotten the impression when calling tmobile that they value my business all these years when i tell them that. I want to upgrade to android phone and they will not let me keep my loyalty plan. So other carriers are looking really good right now with new carriers in the area and plans at the 1/2 the monthly price to what I am paying now. I would like to stay loyal but Tmobile needs to show me they value me as a long time customer to get more competitive our I am am leaving.

Kirk

If you are grandfathered into a plan they can’t force you to switch to a new plan. Talk to a supervisor or just upgrade at Costco, Amazon or tmo online.

Anonymous

I’m pretty sure all the new plans are cheaper than any of the old stuff anyway.

Anonymous

Finally someone with some sense! Actually I think one of the reasons the way things are right now is that Verizon and at&t have historically had stricter credit standards for customers to have service with them. They have BETTER customers for the most part. T-Mobile gets bad word of mouth from people because people with no sense of responsibility will blame T-Mobile for things that are clearly their own fault. I think I read T-Mobile was working to strengthen their credit standards which is a good thing because a lot of these irresponsible customers are causing bad buzz. A Verizon or At&t customer is more likely to blame themselves and not the company if they incur an overage or something similar.

Passing Thru

I left TMobile after 8 years because of coverage. I lived in Phoenix and had fair coverage, and moved to San Diego where I have poor voice and Edge only. In my house I had Cox coverage thru the wifi. The thing that made me switch was the blackout we had here. After two hours Tmobile went off the air. The people at work that had Verizon and AT&T never lost the signal. Their towers had emergency backup. I read in the forum on this site about someone complaining about no ear buds anymore. I never used the ones that came in the box, but its just a whole lot of small things that are Mickey Mousing TMobile into a cheap looking provider.

JBLmobileG1

I think that if you go over your data it doesn’t reduce your speed to dial up speed but from their 4g speeds to 3g speeds that way you can still watch youtube and Netflix without it having to buffer every few seconds. If they advertise unlimited data at least make it usable. Sure it’s fine for checking email at dialup speeds but try updating or downloading an app like Angry Birds… it takes forever

Ashton

If throttling was to speeds to where you could still watch videos without buffering then NOBODY would move to the 5GB or 10GB plans. That’d be a HUGE revenue loss for them.

JBLmobileG1

So then if everything works well on Tmobiles current 4g or HSPA+ why even bother to upgrade the network to LTE? After all it works right? Same thing in my eyes. Seriously though… try uploading a picture to Facebook using the dialup speed and it doesn’t even work… atleast for me anyways.

Ashton

I’ll explain why. When they throttled people to 2G speeds they had nobody that wanted to move to the next tier when they were throttled. When they switched to the dial-up speeds then they had customers that were willing to switch. The 2G speeds were fast enough for most of the customers after being throttled.

JBLmobileG1

They just need to move away from the different tiers of data… or just have the two. 200mb that charges overages and 5gb that’s unlimited. If what you are explaining to me is Tmobiles way of thinking then they royally screwed the loyal customers because the data plan I have now has always been without throttling until the new structure was set. Actually I heard you had 10gb then they brought it down to 5gb. Funny though they decided to just change it and decided if you still want your 10gb your going to have to pay $25 more for something you already had to begin with. I think they just need to up the speed a bit once they throttle you. Heck I pay $7.99 for Netflix and after a few movies it becomes unless. How about the Tmobile TV? I bet that is the same way once they throttle you…. Useless.

Anonymous

unlimited data please, no throttling.

Anonymous

No. There needs to be a system to prevent abuse. I am all about unlimited mobile data but for the people who consume over 25gb with tethering and downloading? Pfft, they deserve to be penalized.

JBLmobileG1

For me I use my tethering as my sole Internet… and while I don’t hit 25gbs a month 5gb is easy to do. Before you start to bash me I do pay the extra $15 a month fee for tethering so I think I am being fair about it. I was actually able to tether before adding the tethering plan but didn’t want the risk of getting introuble for doing so. I really wish they would give you a few extra gb when you add the tethering feature. Like an extra 2gbs atleast.

Littlesis1774

I think they should keep throttling because if they do get the iphone 5 this year they can handle it.

Anonymous

How about a pure Google phone from someone please. I feel like Google has forgotten about T-mobile since the very fist Nexus and the G1 phones.

Anonymous

The GSM version of the Galaxy Nexus works on T-Mobile’s 3G bands.

Anonymous

Google employees were seen at the Google music event rocking the unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile instead of the Verizon Wireless version.

Anonymous

Sell Iphone mini sims in those markets where 1900 PCS is turned on.

Get the Galaxy Nexus 32GB NOW!

Only launch high quality windows or android phones.

Put basic or dumb phones on prepaid or family.

Like Sprint, feature Unlimited Everything for a good price. ($74.99?)

With these suggestions I think people will want to come back.

Kirk

Yes, get the Galaxy Nexus 32GB right now. In black and white.

Anonymous

I think the key to T-Mobile’s success is to make customers THINK they are getting a deal like the amazon penny phone sale with bloated monthly contract prices instead of things which ARE really great deals like Value plans because the masses are not smart enough to get it.

Ashton

Hate to say it, but if T-mobile charged $25 more a month than their current talk, text, and data plans(which would still make it much cheaper than Verizon) and gave phones away for free then I think many would be happy. Not many customers get that they pay more in the long run, just to save a few bucks up front.

nd5

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. T-Mobile USA needs to become the Hyundai of the US cell phone market. They need to provide a near luxury experience at discount prices. That means great phones, maybe not the best out there, but pretty great phones… think Sensation, Amaze, SGSII and their ilk… no more of this Exhibit II or even Nokia 700 crap. They got totally hosed by AT&T when they got the Nokia 900. They also need to become extremely aggressive with pricing. $50/month unlimited everything. Same price contract or not. The only difference being that if you’re on contract you get phone discounts, and if you are not on contract, you don’t. No throttling data… period. They need to also start showing some serious love to loyal customers.

They don’t have LTE, they don’t have the iPhone. They better decide that they’re going to compete on price and be really aggressive about it. They are not in a position to compete toe-to-toe with Verizon, AT&T, not even Sprint with their current plans & phones. What they have is half decent, assuming that they are willing to discount it to the point that people can’t say no to it…

You want to attract customers and keep them? You want to do it without heavy investment in LTE or iPhone? T-Mobile USA, you better get real.

nd5

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. T-Mobile USA needs to become the Hyundai of the US cell phone market. They need to provide a near luxury experience at discount prices. That means great phones, maybe not the best out there, but pretty great phones… think Sensation, Amaze, SGSII and their ilk… no more of this Exhibit II or even Nokia 700 crap. They got totally hosed by AT&T when they got the Nokia 900. They also need to become extremely aggressive with pricing. $50/month unlimited everything. Same price contract or not. The only difference being that if you’re on contract you get phone discounts, and if you are not on contract, you don’t. No throttling data… period. They need to also start showing some serious love to loyal customers.

They don’t have LTE, they don’t have the iPhone. They better decide that they’re going to compete on price and be really aggressive about it. They are not in a position to compete toe-to-toe with Verizon, AT&T, not even Sprint with their current plans & phones. What they have is half decent, assuming that they are willing to discount it to the point that people can’t say no to it…

You want to attract customers and keep them? You want to do it without heavy investment in LTE or iPhone? T-Mobile USA, you better get real.

http://tmonews.com David

T-Mobile USA needs to become the Hyundai of the US cell phone market. They need to provide a near luxury experience at discount prices.

Best comment I’ve heard in days!

nd5

Thanks David! Now if I could only delete my overposts :p

Anonymous

Well said nd5!! If they’d combine your ideas with some of the other great ideas here, Tmo could get on solid ground and make it last. I like your ideas a lot!!!

Enveed05

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. T-Mobile USA needs to become the Hyundai of the US cell phone market. They need to provide a near luxury experience at discount prices. That means great phones, maybe not the best out there, but pretty great phones… think Sensation, Amaze, SGSII and their ilk… no more of this Exhibit II or even Nokia 700 crap. They got totally hosed by AT&T when they got the Nokia 900. They also need to become extremely aggressive with pricing. $50/month unlimited everything. Same price contract or not. The only difference being that if you’re on contract you get phone discounts, and if you are not on contract, you don’t. No throttling data… period. They need to also start showing some serious love to loyal customers.

They don’t have LTE, they don’t have the iPhone. They better decide that they’re going to compete on price and be really aggressive about it. They are not in a position to compete toe-to-toe with Verizon, AT&T, not even Sprint with their current plans & phones. What they have is half decent, assuming that they are willing to discount it to the point that people can’t say no to it…

You want to attract customers and keep them? You want to do it without heavy investment in LTE or iPhone? T-Mobile USA, you better get real.

If Humm honestly things the iPhone is the single biggest factor in T-Mobile’s churn problem, he’s incredibly out of touch.

Mattcat03

I think your out touch. Facts show that there are at least 1 million Tmo customers using Iphones and thats on the EDGE signal. Imagine with 3g or 4g. And choice is always good.

http://twitter.com/JethroGibbsFan James

The Primary account holder thing is stupid. If you want to be the only one to authorize changes…than don’t add authorize users to your account.

GinaDee

No the current system notifies the user via SMS if any changes are made right now. This is not practical especially for business customers.

If I’m going to lay someone off and I need to immediately suspend someone’s account that user currently gets notified by T-Mobile which to me is a joke. There should be a way to control the SMS notification to only go to the account holder not each individual user.

Mattcat03

I seriously think if Tmo does not improved their call coverage service they would continue to lose customers more than they can sign up. The “5″ proposals in this article sounds good but it is not enough to keep customers from leaving, thus churn issues continue. Based on my experience, AT&T has better call coverage with the same GSM technology and Tmo needs to get on board.

Here is my 2cent list that Tmo should do:
1) Improve call and data coverage in existing areas inside buildings
2) Get their customer service back to the old award winning status.
3) Apply the 5 proposal in this article if possible

Results: Existing customers wil stay and new customer will come in droves

Mattcat03

4) Another important thing I forgot to mention, add the IPHONE. The CEO of Tmo must do whatever he needs to do to make that happen.

phxgoose

If T-mobile wants to fix it self it needs to remove its current value plans they are confusing to their customer base. You have two types of plans value plans or classic plans, one you get a discount on the device the other you get a discount on the plan, but trying to explain that to customers just confuses them. I do agree they need to jump into the family data plan first and that will help them tons in getting new customers. Points 1 and 3 are definite musts, though point 4 isn’t Verizon’s loyalty bonus was only to the primary line of the account it did nothing for the other lines and isn’t needed to improve customer loyalty. Point 2 shouldn’t be needed as only the account holder or people that the account holder has added to the account should be able to make changes, if the account holders put people they can’t trust on their account has authorized users than it’s not T-mobile’s fault. I think point 5 is valid if T-mobile can get it without paying an arm and a leg like sprint did to get it, they do not need it that badly.

Ashton

The Value plans are awesome and that’s what I’d be on if I wasn’t working there but they really need to get rid of them. Some customers are idiots, which is seen from all the “STOP THE MIGRATION FEES TO VALUE” on here. They don’t get that you can’t have your cake, discounted phones, and eat it too, be on a plan that doesn’t get discounts on phones.

phxgoose

If the value plans were like the older Even More plus plan I’d be okay with them with no contract, but customers do not understand that they either get a discount on the phone or a discount on the plan not both. Its way to confusing for customers. And its only a real value for those with 2 lines or less. With 2 lines you will save about 960 over the course of 2 years on the plan over the same classic plan but you spend between 800 and 1000 on phones so you real savings is only between -40 and 160 less the cost of the phones you purchase. And the purchase price depends on where you buy them. The 3rd line saves you only $15 a month over the course of 2 years so that’s only a savings of 360 yet you still spend between 400 and 500 on most phones, so now you’re loosing on the savings. And you only make these savings in the last few months of your contract. Why would a customer want to pay 150 to 200 down for a phone +15 to 20 a month for the next 20 months only to save in the last couple months versus just paying the 200 down for the phone in the first place. Your costs are essentially the same for the next 20 months. And you can then get another discounted phone. And if you shop elsewhere besides a T-mobile store you will save even more.

phxgoose

If the value plans were like the older Even More plus plan I’d be okay with them with no contract, but customers do not understand that they either get a discount on the phone or a discount on the plan not both. Its way to confusing for customers. And its only a real value for those with 2 lines or less. With 2 lines you will save about 960 over the course of 2 years on the plan over the same classic plan but you spend between 800 and 1000 on phones so you real savings is only between -40 and 160 less the cost of the phones you purchase. And the purchase price depends on where you buy them. The 3rd line saves you only $15 a month over the course of 2 years so that’s only a savings of 360 yet you still spend between 400 and 500 on most phones, so now you’re loosing on the savings. And you only make these savings in the last few months of your contract. Why would a customer want to pay 150 to 200 down for a phone +15 to 20 a month for the next 20 months only to save in the last couple months versus just paying the 200 down for the phone in the first place. Your costs are essentially the same for the next 20 months. And you can then get another discounted phone. And if you shop elsewhere besides a T-mobile store you will save even more.

Ashton

Your math is missing something. The most T-mobile gives in discount on a phone is $300. The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is $530 MSRP and the discounted price is $248 after a mail in rebate. It’s $248 because of the $18 upgrade fee. So over the course of two years you actually save $188 per line over the Classic plan with a full discount.

On the add a lines you stated that the savings is $360 but you only get a discount on a phone for $300, plus you have to pay the $18 upgrade fee. It’s not as much savings but it’s still cheaper. Don’t worry, you made the same mistake that every single customer does when they call in that regard.

Ashton

Sorry, it’s $198, not $188 in savings.

Abeeh24

I have been a t mobile customer since 2004, but lately am getting frustrated cos untill now I waited hopping t mobil will get the iphone, but nothing happen I still have to buy the iPhone n unlock it not to mention every time I have a problem with the phone I can’t get tech support……I hope t mobil will get the iPhone soon if not I will be forced to switch to AT&T or Verizon.
1 get IPHONE
2 improve network coverage. pleas

GinaDee

They need to plunk down a large CAPEX investment of $9 billion or more. Work with 3rd party tower agencies to grow out and expand their network. Equip all cell sites with high capacity backhaul. Upgrade all sites to HSPA + if the spectrum is sufficient and regular HSPA at a bare minimum. If no spectrum is available for purchase then they need to partner with or network share with another provider who does have the spectrum to build out LTE nationwide. GPRS and EDGE only sites need to be phased out by 2013.

Modernize their billing portal for consumers with more self service options in a website that isn’t always down for maintenance. Equip business customers with a world class billing portal where we can manage our account, add/remove new lines of service, order accessories, update IMEI’s and SIM’s, provision our own services and create on demand reports.

You don’t have to be the cheapest just keep things simple and strive to be the best at least in certain popular metro areas. Change your Monthly Prepaid plans to aggressively compete with the likes of Metro and Cricket. The cheaper clientele will gravitate to these plans. Use your national edge and global brand to push your bottom feeder competitors to the back of the bus.

Get rid of Value Plans. Just let those who want to pay full price for phones do so off contract.

Antoinetrenton

That is a very good idea as a t mobile customer I had the htc g2 and my touch 4g and now a LG g2x running on 2.3.3 and my network speeds are good when I’m outside I get 9 up 2 down on speed times but when I’m in my house I get 2g our sometimes no service t mobile needs to improve there network to work in doors

Jeanette

Agreed. I’ve been saying this all along: T-Mobile’s lack of real investment for years is what has gotten them where they are today. 11th hour HSPA+ 42 Mbps upgrades only in a few spots don’t really cut it in 2012 when you have Verizon and now AT&T aggressively rolling out LTE at a rapid clip.

From a financial perspective I know Europe itself is in a real crisis. I’m not sure how much money DT wants to throw at TMUS right now especially at a time when they are riddled with debt and are having trouble paying it off as it is. They were truly counting on that $39 billion from AT&T to do this now they are left scrambling.

TMUS really needs an IPO so that US investors can put the needed funds into the network in exchange for partial ownership. Corporations and wealthy US investors are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash right now that they have been hoarding away for the past few years as our country’s economic seen went downhill. Now might be a great time to reinvest that money back into our economy and TMUS is a worthy candidate for such generosity.

Long term however TMUS can’t be the cheap skate provider and they need higher paying more valuable customers. Either that or they have to go all the way to the bottom and compete with the lowest of the low providers. Being the lower middle guy doesn’t cut it in our US economy. Nothing wrong with charging more for better service. But the two have to go hand in hand. This won’t sit well with the old customers still hanging on to their $5.99 T-zones plans that they’ve been using on Android smartphones but at some point something will have to give.

Jeanette

Agreed. I’ve been saying this all along: T-Mobile’s lack of real investment for years is what has gotten them where they are today. 11th hour HSPA+ 42 Mbps upgrades only in a few spots don’t really cut it in 2012 when you have Verizon and now AT&T aggressively rolling out LTE at a rapid clip. From a financial perspective I know Europe itself is in a real crisis. I’m not sure how much money DT wants to throw at TMUS right now especially at a time when they are riddled with debt and are having trouble paying it off as it is. They were truly counting on that $39 billion from AT&T to do this now they are left scrambling.

TMUS really needs an IPO so that US investors can put the needed funds into the network in exchange for partial ownership. Corporations and wealthy US investors are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash right now that they have been hoarding away for the past few years as our country’s economic seen went downhill. Now might be a great time to reinvest that money back into our economy and TMUS is a worthy candidate for such generosity.

Long term however TMUS can’t be the cheap skate provider and they need higher paying more valuable customers. Either that or they have to go all the way to the bottom and compete with the lowest of the low providers. Being the lower middle guy doesn’t cut it in our US economy. Nothing wrong with charging more for better service. But the two have to go hand in hand. This won’t sit well with the old customers still hanging on to their $5.99 T-zones plans that they’ve been using on Android smartphones but at some point something will have to give.

Dave Moore

Agreed. I’ve been saying this all along: T-Mobile’s lack of real investment for years is what has gotten them where they are today. 11th hour HSPA+ 42 Mbps upgrades only in a few spots don’t really cut it in 2012 when you have Verizon and now AT&T aggressively rolling out LTE at a rapid clip. From a financial perspective I know Europe itself is in a real crisis. I’m not sure how much money DT wants to throw at TMUS right now especially at a time when they are riddled with debt and are having trouble paying it off as it is. They were truly counting on that $39 billion from AT&T to do this now they are left scrambling.

TMUS really needs an IPO so that US investors can put the needed funds into the network in exchange for partial ownership. Corporations and wealthy US investors are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash right now that they have been hoarding away for the past few years as our country’s economic seen went downhill. Now might be a great time to reinvest that money back into our economy and TMUS is a worthy candidate for such generosity.

Long term however TMUS can’t be the cheap skate provider and they need higher paying more valuable customers. Either that or they have to go all the way to the bottom and compete with the lowest of the low providers. Being the lower middle guy doesn’t cut it in our US economy. Nothing wrong with charging more for better service. But the two have to go hand in hand. This won’t sit well with the old customers still hanging on to their $5.99 T-zones plans that they’ve been using on Android smartphones but at some point something will have to give.

Greg

You’ve hit on a good point here. T-Mobile needs find a corporate identity and decide which route they’re going to take. Do they want to be known as the cheapest provider? Or the best?

one thing i think would make t-mobile better is if they expand there coverage. i work in best buy in the cellphone section over here in los angeles and almost no one buys t-mobile or sprint everyone that walks in usually always goes for either at&t or verizon . even tho i show them that sprint and t-mobile have cheaper plans they usually always give me the same answer ” i care more about reception inside buildings and better nationwide coverage ” something t-mobile and sprint dont provide. they dont care if at&t or verizon are more expensive . so yeaaa..

Taraj26

i think they shud start workin on Lte pronto!! verizon has Lte in alot of places, at&t was starting of slow they were supposed to have 15 markets with Lte by the end of december . But i dont know if anyone noticed that ever since the fcc approved the deal with flo tv and at&t , at&t bought flo tv and now there Lte rollout started going faster. By the end of december at&t had 26 markets with Lte insted of 15. so i wouldnt be surprised if we start seeing more at&t Lte cities popping up faster. because i read online that at&t customers will start seeing Lte in more places faster because there gonna do a massive rollout now that they bought flo tv . and theres proof they had 26 cities with Lte instead of the supposed 15 by december. so yea i think tmo need to catch up pronto!!!!!!

$price for phone, $200 to get the value plan and than monthly bills?
Remove the $200 per line stupid VALUE PLAN fee.

that’s number 1 recommendation

Ashton

Don’t get a discount on a phone then ask for switch to a plan without discounts……that’s number 1 recommendation.

http://www.joshrobertnay.com Respawn

1. Screw LTE for the time being. It can wait. Just get rid of 2G completely
and build it into 84Mbps HSPA+. If you want any faster than 84Mbps right now,
you’re just sad. Think ahead, though, and acquire the spectrum needed to deploy LTE soon.

2. For 2G-only phone customers, offer a free 3G/4G phone based on tenure to get them off the spectrum needed to build out HSPA+. It’s about time they updated their phones anyway and if they’re still sporting 2G phones, that’s both sad (because they’re old) and awesome (because the phones lasted that long).

3. Down with fees! I’m talking Migration Fees, Upgrade Fees, and such. I can understand Restocking Fees, Cancellation Fees, and the like, but the other fees are just silly.

4. COVERAGE. This kind of goes back to #1, but focuses on coverage in general. Let’s face it, T-Mobile needs coverage. Native coverage. The AT&T roaming agreement is a short-term fix for this, but what happens in seven years?

5. Bring the damn good customer service back! We miss you!

6. iPhone. If nothing else, it will help give people their little social status symbol they need to stop whining.

7. 18-month upgrade program. The 12-year may not make as much sense in a business environment (especially with some super expensive devices) but an 18-month program would be a nice way to meet in the middle.

8. Better international roaming. For a company who has stakes in a great many countries, Deutsche Telekom really has expensive roaming. We need to stop thinking national and start thinking INTERNATIONAL like companies such as Truphone does.

So turn off 2G and what do you tell the 1 million Iphone customers when you say there is no data network for you here or any of the other phones that are from AT&T, which there are quite a few.

http://www.joshrobertnay.com Respawn

This: Read #2 and #6 again. Combine them. Think about it. In other words, offer iPhone users a comparable free device, even if that device is an iPhone (not likely to be free though, considering it’s Apple we’re talking about).

http://pharaohtechblog.blogspot.com/ Conan Kudo (???????)

If they deploy HSPA+84 carriers on PCS where 2G GSM is currently residing, the iPhone will connect to 3G instead of 2G on PCS.

Ashton

No it won’t, it runs at different frequencies than the Iphone can pick up.

JR69

Yes, they need more coverage. They should get this though from AT&T after the merger was denied. Some would say LTE, but for me HSPA 84 would be just fine AND it wouldn’t drain my battery like LTE. BUT, I wouldn’t mind if they roll out LTE in the same frequency as AT&T.

More high end phones. T-Mobile continues to be the value leader but honestly, there are tons of people who want to high end phone, see more it’s certainly not hurting Verizon and could help your image.

I agree with upgrade cost. They need to keep their loyal customers and all carriers should adopt this. I am already signing a new agreement, don’t nickel and dime me!

Anonymous

I hate their stupid Migration Fees. I can’t switch to the $49.99 unlimited everything plan without paying $200 first!! I never heard of such a thing. It used to be that if you wanted to change your plan, you could, seamlessly albeit the exception of maybe a contract extension.

Frank Jacobs

They should let you switch if you haven’t bought a subsidized phone recently. However, I have no problem charging the $200 if you’ve just bought a phone at a reduced rate. They need to make money somehow.

T-Mobile needs to increase their profit margins. Giving stuff away cheap, and then getting less back from the customer doesn’t help them.

Ashton

The migrations fees go down. If you’re at 8 months then it’s $150, 12 months $100, 16 months is $50 and free at 18 months. Those that gripe about the migration fees of $200 recently received a discount and all T-mobile wants is part of their money back if you want to go to a plan that doesn’t give a discount on phones.

Thomas

The only exception being customers that have recently switched to a classic plan from a legacy/grandfathered one, and with that signed a new 2-year agreement. I do think T-Mobile should go off of the last upgrade instead of just the contract end date.

T-Mobile has already done away with upgrade fees on the value plans, so in my book that point is already done.

Ashton

I’ll agree with that but all these people whining about buying Galaxy S 2s at full discount and then saying it’s wrong for T-mobile to charge migration fees is ludicrous. Some people have no common sense in that regard.

Guest

There is a policy that will allow you to waive a migration fee if the rate plan was changed recently and not because of a cellphone upgrade. Its pretty limited but i have used it a good number of situations to get ppl onto the value plan

Dan

Well that plan you want is a Value plan and your on a Classic plan. You can switch to a different Classic plan without fee.

Rajesh

the $200 to get VALUE PLAN is a big rip off! Having to pay $200 per line to change the plan is a stupid idea.

KASUR

$200 PER LINE FEE FOR PLAN CHANGE IS UNHEARED OF AND ONLY ON TMO, this is why they are losing customers.
it is not a VALUE a rip off plan actually

Ashton

The reason why nobody else charges to switch to a plan is because T-mobile is the only carrier that has a plan where you buy the phone at full price and then get a lower rate. You CANNOT get a full discount on a phone and then ask to go to the plan where you buy the phone at full price and not get a penalty charge. T-mobile’s not stupid, just the people bitching about the migration fees.

KASUR

tmo is worst, charge for phone and pay $200 per like to change plan.
NO carrier does that nonsense.
it used to be free to change the plans but now $1000 for 5 family lines to change plan?

Timothy Desaules

You are a moron. People like you is why we ever even saw G W Bush in office.

Ashton

It was NEVER free to change to a plan that was cheaper because you didn’t get phone subsidies. Remember the Even More Plus plans?

Brian McGriff

You can still change between any classic plan you want with out fees.

Ashton

The same migration fees applied to the Even More Plus plan but the Value plans are so much cheaper that people think they should just be allowed to move to them because they’re special. Hint, you’re not that special.

Wilma Flintstone

Mr. Vault, what is that plan of yours called or does it have a name? I want to know for reference when I call customer Loyalty Department. I’ve been paying $101 for Unlimited everything (5GB) every month and would really like to get that lowered. Thanks for the info also.

Anonymous

Here my 2cents worth. Where are your decent midrange phones that are not touch screen,that
are not smart phones? Tm,has only 2 so-so flipphones in your lineup. The other big 3 have,rugged,water resistant/proof phones. At&t is still selling sliders phones from 3-4 yrs.
old. Pertect for people that don’t want or need smart or touch screen phones! I am sure that Vez, and Sprint,have some older phones they are still selling that are simple! 2 so-so flipphones,and 2 so-so
bar phones! Is not cutting it!

Greg

So true. I need to replace by dad’s phone. He just needs a simple flip phone, but the only ones they’ve got get really lousy ratings and look like they’re made for a teenage girl. :-/

Anonymous

Look what they might have on ebay for him. They still sell Moto Razr V8 for a good price. Better yet you can get him Razr 3g V9 unlock on there. If they are too fancy,
you can maybe see if he would like Nokia 6263. If so,you can checkout this seller(
this is not my store,or do I profit if you buy from them) they are selling, unlock 6263
for $27.00 plus $12.00 shipping. phoneshoptelmarnetworktechnology they are on ebay.
Hope’s this help you.

TM97

1. Shared family data. While a good idea, but T-Mobile is already network data heavy. They can’t just magically get spectrum, and the AT&T roaming is going to be for Data only. It would be nice to give away more spectrum for less money, but the company is already broke. Many markets can’t launch even a second UMTS carrier because of spectrum challenges. Forget LTE, UMTS and HSPA will be tough to expand.

2. Notifications, yeah ok.

3. Remove upgrade fee. The company is already broke. Unless they can determine that more would be taken in by reducing churn and increased sales to outset the cost, its an impossibility. They can do nothing that costs more money right now.

4. I’ve thought a customer loyalty program would be a great idea for years past. Everytime it gets mentioned the same demons “cost vs. reward” “more consumers on a strapped network already”, etc. Unless they can determine that it will make them money in some way, it will not happen. It remains to be seen if its profitable.

5 Iphone, Iphone Iphone. Who knows. All the pressure that can be bared on T-Mobile is there, it is going to have to be pushed on Apple by consumers.

http://www.joshrobertnay.com Respawn

Where did you read the AT&T roaming agreement was going to be data only? Voice can operate on HSPA+. And who says T-Mobile is broke? They’re still very profitable!

Ashton

Well they are very profitable but they’ve not even made much of a dent into the purchases they’ve made from acquisitions. Voicestream cost T-mobile $35 billion and don’t forget about Suncom. They also had to borrow billions increasing their network from the parent company. It’s like saying a person is making $100,000 a year is doing well but they are $3 million in debt.

http://www.joshrobertnay.com Respawn

True, but last time I looked, T-Mobile was not in debt. Deutsche Telekom was.

http://pharaohtechblog.blogspot.com/ Conan Kudo (???????)

Last I checked, T-Mobile is on track for $6.2 billion in revenues for FY 2011. Pull out the ~$3.5 billion in operating expenses and upgrades, and T-Mobile USA is still contributing roughly $2.7 billion in profit to Deutsche Telekom.

Ashton

Look at the actual quarterly profits and not just come up with your own random math. It’s nowhere near your numbers.

Anonymous

about getting the 2 gb data out and get back to the 5 gb data cap instead.

Ashton

Huh? They do, it’s just the same price as it’s always been for 5GB, which is $30. They just gave a wider selection of data plans by introducing a 2GB $20 data plan.

BigMixxx

The big thing is…

People want t mobile to be successful. We …us folks in the community…have really good ideas…..

I only wish there was an opportunity to submit ideas to help turn the company around. The outlook for the company is quite simple. Look at the past mistakes and high successes and develop programs to avoid the mistakes and highlight the successes….

Anonymous

BigMixxx is waiting for you bring out the replacement for the LgG2x!! LoL!

BigMixxx

I wish….if there is one with the same specs running miui….
Or a cyangen version of the software….
Or Just not that damn phone…

Ashton

One of the companies need to just pay Cyanogenmod to build their Android version, then they wouldn’t have had the software issues they had with the G2X. The Cyanogenmod guys want to see their custom ROM on a manufactured phone and one thing you never hear is people griping about their phone running CM7 and when there are slight problems the issues are fixed in days, not months.

InvisibleHand

The problem is that all the “good ideas” that customers have do not contribute to the bottom line. I’m not saying that I disagree with lower costs and better phones, but those things don’t typically happen together. Think about it: if plan price were such a concern, then Verizon and AT&T wouldn’t each have triple the customers of T-Mobile. I hate to say it, but if the iPhone comes to T-Mobile, so will higher cost plans. This will be good for the company and bad for everyone on T-Mobile waiting for the iphone. If you want the iPhone, you had better get it on AT&T or Verizon because the price will essentially be the same.

JG01

The COE of Tmobile said, he wants to stop customer churn….number 1 thing. The problem with TMobile is , they are not giving the people what they want…plain and simple. They want too much control over what you do (I understand, from a homeland security point, this is not bad). We need a champion company within the telecom industry. A company whos mantra is, ” we are of the people, run by the people and we look out for the people”. All the companies are these days is ,” of the the wealthy, run for the wealthy, and look out for the wealthy few”. There is balance between these two worlds.

To keep the customers.

1. Have better customer service. When I call, most of the time , they don’t know what they are doing and I have to educate them…me the customer…might as well do it myself! Or , I have to call back 7 times to get one person who knows what they are doing.When I call for an issue with my phone…don’t tell me that the phone is new and no one has been train on it !!

2. CUT OUT THE BLOATWARE CRAP and SPYING software (CIQ…remeber) on the device. This to me a blantent disregard of the consume rights. These software also causes devices to run poorly and can cause hardware failures, battery drains, performance issues….just cut it out !! What most customer don’t know is, when you buy a device, you own it. Meaning , like a laptop, you buy , take it home and can install another operating system on it or remove pre-installed software without voiding the warranty !! these handheld devices are small computers, just like a laptop. We should be able to delete whatever software we don’t want ( OS excluded…BTW…thanks XDA-Developers). Having said that, It is up to the customer to get to know the device and how works and how the use it.

3. Come up with more creative ways of working with customers on issues. At the moment, it’s a hard stop based on what the procedure states. To be frank…this upsets the customer and when this happens a few times, becomes very frustrating and thus customers want to leave. Be more flexible.

4. Sell the device separately from the network service. Meaning, TMobile operates on certain frequencies.If I want to buy a device that is being used in Europe that can operate on their network, then Tmobile can be the broker of these sales, partner with distributers.STOP LIMITING US!! Ultimately, the manuffactorers are the one who have honor the warranties…so we can also go directly to them.

5. Become a more technolgy SAVVY network. All they do is phone calls, text and data….boring. There is major technological revolution about to happen regarding media content, virtualization, user interaction , the convergence has already begun..and TMobile should more cutting edge, instead of following the leaders.. Become more of a technology company , integrating services and features (If someone from TMobile reads this, they know what I mean). Hate to say it, but Verizon have been blazing ahead in this area.

6. They can still do better with their plans. I agree, cut out those bad fees … like the upgrade fee !! I have chosen to stay with your company and give you my money, why are you charging me this fee?! Just another clap in the face !! If I am paying full price for a phone…why do I need to pay $200 ETF?
+

Max

Oh brother

Alexander Rojas

I am a prepaid user so I say:
1. Add insurance for prepaid customers
2. If you have enough funds in your account let consumers “bill” apps
3. Off-contract price should be cheaper for loyal customers or prepaid
4. Get more high-end smart phones from EVERY Manfac( android especially, WP7, and iphone for those that want it)
5. Roll out 4G more often, especially in NJ *cough cough* 84mbps
6. Devices should be unlocked by default with pentaband GSM

Ashton

So what you’re saying is that you want prepaid pricing with post paid perks. Not going to happen.

InvisibleHand

5 Ideas to save T-Mobile:
1. Launch 2-3 LTE sites and raise plan prices the same day.
2. Eliminate the upgrade fee and add $20 to the price of each handset the next time pricing changes.
3. Eliminate the ridiculous save offers people get when calling in to cancel because they want the iphone. Let them go.
4. Drop the mytouch franchise and launch a “near stock” Android phone with guaranteed updates allowing some bloatware to make money. This will give the stock android fans something to love.
5. Stop positioning T-Mobile as a “value leader”. Let Sprint do that. Take a gamble on the iPhone in conjunction with the raised price of the plan.

If DT decides to keep T-Mobile for the short or long term, they need to start building value in the company to prepare for a future sale. This is accomplished by incentivizing cost-sensitive customers to leave to sprint or prepaid networks while opening up spectrum for the higher value customers looking to leave Verizon and AT&T.

In short: drop all the cutesy crap and start competing like a real business. Price sensitive customers who frequently call in and threaten to cancel are not worth retaining since they often have a history of late payments and suspensions. High value customers will come from Verizon and AT&T, but only if you give them a real reason. Lower price plans are just a band aid. It made sense while preparing for the AT&T buyout but cannot be sustained indefinitely.

my 2 cents.

Fist

T Mobile is looking for a CEO, maybe you should apply?

Schippma

I agree with many of these posts but I think most people are forgetting something, T-Mobile is a value carrier. They are not AT&T and Verizon and I am proud of that fact.

T-Mobile needs to deploy HSPA+ to as many markets as possible and find other partners in areas where they do not have enough spectrum. By the end of this year, the vast majority of T-Mobile’s native coverage area should be upgraded to HSPA since most of their native coverage is in metro areas.

T-Mobile should invest in HSPA due to the significant price advantages over LTE. T-Mobile is a value leader, meaning they cannot offer the greatest network at a discounted price. Verizon can deploy LTE to their entire network if they wanted to do so because they are the BMW of wireless carriers. Their customers pay for their ‘premium’ network.

I love T-Mobile because they offer lower cost plans and services to consumers which gives customers a choice in the wireless market. If T-Mobile struck a deal with Apple on an iPhone, T-Mobile would have to sell the phone for much more than VZW, ATT, and Sprint because their plans are more expensive.

If T-Mobile gets the iPhone and/or deploys LTE extensively, they would be forced to raise prices. Would you stay with T-Mobile if they offered the iPhone and deployed LTE in limited markets as well as raising their data and voice plans?

I think most people would be happier with better voice and data coverage outside metro areas, fast internet speeds with HSPA, better low to high end devices from all manufacturers (including Apple IF a reasonable deal can be struck), and the great customer service I have had with T-Mobile for the past 9 years I have been a customer.

If I wanted an iPhone that worked with 3G speeds or if I wanted 4G LTE, I would just simply get it from somewhere else. Just my ramblings and thoughts.

Ashton

The problem with your deduction is that LTE is more expensive. Yes, it will cost a lot to build but the cost of operating it is much less than HSPA+. This means that other carriers will be able to run their network at less cost and could then drop the price of their plans within striking distance of T-mobile. If a Verizon plan ended up costing $10-20 more than a comparable T-mobile plan then it’s game over for T-mobile.

Bratty

The problem with your deduction is that the bigger boys will actually DROP prices. Why would they? At much higher prices, people are flocking to them. There is no logical reason to think that they will drop prices after implementing LTE. Low prices alone do not guarantee customers.

InvisibleHand

I agree completely. The best way to retain customers is to create a connection on an emotional level (iPhone, specific features etc.) which cost alone does not create.

Bratty

BINGO! That is exactly what TMo needs. Its about the emotional relationship with the customer. If you cannot be the largest airline, be Southwest. Same situation here.

Ashton

They gave up the “Southwest” option when Humm became CEO and they aren’t planning on going back.

Pa

What?

Rmark1880

How about expanding 3g? T-mobile still has more 2g than any other network. Nobody wants to be stuck with dialup speeds in 2012. Hurry the hell up and get your network out of the stone age and then people will want to possibly sign a contract.

Ben McRill

you don’t want to be stuck in the stone age but you are asking for more 3g? T-mobile has the largest 4g network out there with speeds (in the real world) topping 20 mbps. Now they do need better rural area coverage, but so do several companies.

Emily

Number one advice to TMOBILE is,

Stop asking long time customers to pay $200 fee per line to change plan to the cheaper VALUE PLAN.
Tmo must not charge $200 per line, plan change fee.

Kirk

Emily do you currently own a smartphone? Did you pay like 600 dollars for your phone or did you get that smartphone subsidized?

That should answer your question why you can’t switch to Value Plan without a fee.

THEY F*CKING GAVE YOU A DISCOUNT ON THE GOD DAMN F*CKING PHONE. VALUE PLAN DOESN’T OFFER A F*CKING DISCOUNT ON PHONES. PEOPLE PAY LIKE 600 BUCKS FOR A PHONE WHEN THEY WANT TO BE ON THE VALUE PLAN. THAT IS WHY THE VALUE PLAN IS A VALUE PLAN, BECAUSE THE CUSTOMER PAYS FULL PRICE FOR THE GOD DAMN SMARTPHONE.

ARE YOU SO SPECIAL YOU SHOULD TRICK THE SYSTEM, GET A SUBSIDIZED PHONE THEN SWITCH OVER TO VALUE PLAN?

GOD DAMN

Sorry but I can’t stand the idiots anymore. T-mobile has a lot of issues I agree, but the migration fee isn’t one of them.

jon

Lol.

Spock

Also they should give us the phone for Free for using the service for 2 years

Emily

i got no fee or big discounted phone, CHARGING $200 per line to change plan is foolish thing! it used to be that we can change the plan but now up to $1000?

Emily

correcttion- i didn’t get free or discounted, i paid almost full price of the phone.

Ashton

Yes, you probably paid $200 for a top end Android phone and think that you paid almost full price. That’s not the case. They give a discount of $300 on most smartphones, so by them moving you to the Value plan for $200 they are still losing money but some customers don’t get that for some reason.

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